The single most widely planted grape varietal in the United States is Chardonnay and it's not much of a surprise that it is also the most consumed wine. As Chardonnay is such a prized and sought-after wine, there's no better way to appreciate it than with a focused event celebrating the grape at this year's third annual Chardonnay Symposium.

The three-day event will commence on Friday, June 29, at Sierra Madre Vineyard (from 6:00-9:30) with a "BYOC BBQ." Bring your own Chardonnay and listen to live music, taste wine, and enjoy all with the comforts ...

Recently I had the opportunity to share in a live video stream with Scott Jordan of Cellars of Sonoma and the winemaker of Joseph Jewell with some twitter friends. It is a weekly event taking place on cellarsofsonoma.com Tuesday nights at 6:00 PM PST. The Joseph Jewell name is derived from two different middle names and the impressive label is a family crest. 

The 2009 Joseph Jewell Russian River Valley Pinot Noir produced just 250 cases. The winemaker Adrian Mann indicated the Floodgate VIneyard name is based upon the area being part of the flood plane but his ...

As the clocks change, wines are bottled, spring time arises, vine buds bloom, and the wine festivals begin! 

Each "wine festival season" as I call it has a variety of events, focus, and in some cases a cause. March is coming to a close and April is fast approaching towards another "Earth Day." This particular day may not have a special meaning for some, however, this is a group that knows how to through a party, or shall we say wine festival. SIP, or Sustainable In Practice is an organization dedicated towards promoting vineyards/wineries that practice environmental responsibility among ...

Each Tuesday night at 6:00 PM on cellarsofsonoma.com there is a winemaker/owner of very small production wines on livestream. Scott Jordon conducts live interviews while tasting the wines together. Getting the wines ahead of time just removes the virtual and makes it reality, as we taste/tweet along (with freinds @tampawinewoman, @myvinespot and @dangod1). The added benefit of signing in with twitter so the hashtag becomes automatic helps take it to the next level.

It is now week three for wine posts from Wandering Wino, and I have to say I'm impressed with the wines. The ...

Do you have a special food or wine memory soley dedicated to the taste? We all have those life moments when we might remember grandma's macaroni and cheese, or a wine moment that had you at hello. These are the moments that can be difficult to duplicate. Moments like these are rare, yet tend to stick in our minds for a long time. I can still recall the Chateaubriand I ate when I was 10 years old in a restaurant. I can still recall old vintage wines that play in my mind with salavation and a smile.

Thus far ...

Throughout California, there are many wine appellations or AVA's. Each is broken down by distinctions like climate and soil that produce both growing and wine differentiation's. The French word terroir will not be used because I do not speak French and, well, mainly for fear of civil unrest among the hard-core. Many of the regions are known to produce and specialize in different wines. The Central Coast includes over 30 different AVA's (American Viticulture Areas). Having some familiarity with these regions, there are key distinctions that often can be blanketed with the term "Central Coast."

Central Coast ...

This is my first official wine review post. Some may wonder why. The reason is simple. In many cases they simply bore me. That's not to say I have not sought out very specific wine reviews posted from others, however writing them has been unappealing personally until now.

Many of you know I do winemaker video interviews shown on my home page. Winemakers are often interesting people that can help educate me/us in enology, viticulture, and so much more. In a fun interactive live stream video,winemaker interviews are conducted by Cellars of Sonoma on Tuesday nights starting ...

If you've had the pleasure of touring Santa Barbara's wine country, you likely visited some combination of Santa Maria Valley, Foxen Trail, Los Olivos, Sta Rita Hills, downtown "funk-zone," or Santa Ynez Valley. These fantastic wine trails are posted clearly on most wine maps. Not all of the great spots are included on the maps for mainstream wine travelers to visit, and not all spots are open to the public. Today's Santa Barbara wine business has grown over the years, including new discoveries and AVA's. One of the younger AVA's (2001) in California, and more ...

The movie "Sideways" seems to be a beaten dead horse amongst the wine industry, so much so, it could be called the "S-word."  They say perception is reality and many people's knowledge base sometimes falls on a simple  movie. As exasperated as the discussions might be, the impact has been a lasting one. A well known winemaker called it the "Sideways bump." The Santa Barbara region was heavily blessed with a lot of wine travelers seeking the much talked about Pinot Noir with cash in hand.  While Santa Barbara county may produce some of the best Pinot Noir in ...

The debate is on! Wine has been produced for thousands of years and mainly for the simple pleasure of consumption. Grapes are a crop grown in a dirt field under farmers hands and Gods weather. If you've ever been in a vineyard during harvest time, you know much of the romance is quickly tossed out the window once getting in a very cold vineyard at 4:00 AM. Add the element of being covered in grape juice, spiders,  yellow jackets, back breaking work, suddenly the element of sommeliers, restaurants, and wine pairing dinners  is quickly out the door. Despite ...